PORN & THE LAW
IN SINGAPORE, it is an offence to be in possession of pornographic material.
If you download porn on your PDA or store it on your PC's hard disk, you can be prosecuted, said a lawyer who did not want to be named. Strictly though, just viewing the material is not an offence in Singapore.
The Films and Publications Department of MITA also confirmed that the "possession of pornographic materials, including those downloaded electronically, is an offence under the Films Act and the Undesirable Publications Act".
A first-time offender can be fined up to $2,000 and jailed up to one year for possession of pornographic materials.
Maybe because of the free trial subscription? You know how
Singaporeans are suckers for free things!
- Ijs, a contributor to
the forum on the Singapore Palm Users Group, suggests a reason for the
site's popularity
The contents are just too weird sometimes, and the main reason: bad
bad writing. Good erotic stories are very difficult to write, in my
opinion.
- Mr Jeffrey Yen
Want to get your hands on this? Not so fast...
We may be the world's second-biggest subscribers to porn on handhelds, according to a report (though exact figures are not available). CHUA YING-HONG has the dirt
Feb 2, 2001
PORNOGRAPHY on the Net is bad enough. But portable porn?
Singaporeans who own Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) are apparently paying for porn on their PDAs - through an adult website.
This is according to a report by online publication wired.com.
But before you rush to try your luck, here are some things to consider.
It's not easy to get. You need to spend some time looking for it.
Plus, you'd need a palmtop that costs at least $200.
AND it is illegal. (See report on next page.)
According to Mr Kau Yi Kang, 21, a student, the PDA screen is so small that it is practically impossible to see a proper picture.
What's more, he said, one has to hunt for the site, because AvantGo does not publicise it.
AvantGo is a mobile Internet service that gives subscibers access to websites directly from their Palm, Windows CE-based handheld devices, or web-enabled phones.
The site is now the only adult channel in the popular AvantGo directory.
Said Ms Karen Longston, a spokeswoman for AvantGo: "We have a company policy now that wasn't in place when the site joined the service. The policy is not to have those kinds of channels on the site."
However, AvantGo still carries it because it was registered before the new policy came about.
The site was originally developed by college student Tony O'Neill, 20, to provide "adult content" for handheld users.
FIVE STORIES AND TWO PICTURES
For US$6 ($10.40) a month, subscribers to the site receive five erotic stories and two pictures every weekday.
While Mr O'Neill managed to get about 8,000 people to sign up for his trial, only a few hundred agreed to actually subscribe.
The wired.com report stated that most of the subscribers are male, between the ages of 18 and 35. They are usually business travellers, but include even military personnel.
Mr Kau, who does not access the site himself, felt that it is a passing fad, and that it would very tedious and difficult for the authorities to prosecute those who download material from it.